
5S 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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Shelf a^-ii-d 

UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA. 



PRICE 25 CENTS 



HaKd Book 

Of THE 
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FOR SALE AT THE STATE HOUSE. 



HAND BOOK 



OF 



THE STATE HOUSE 



AT 



PHILADELPHIA 



By DAVID SCATTERGOOD 



COPYRIGHTED, 1890 



PUBLISHED BY 
DAVID SCATTERGOOD, 
N. E. Cor. Sixth and Chestnut Sts 
Philadelphia. 







Thb >Si"ate House 

AT 

PHILADKLPHIA. 



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INTRODUCTION. 

T is an original principle of our 
nature which leads us to look 
with deep interest upon any place 
that has been signalized by an 
important event. Thoughts obtrude 
upon the reflective mind, and pecu- 
liar emotions swell the heart of the 
patriot as he contemplates fields 
whereon heroes struggled and vic- 
tories have been achieved. It was 
this feeling that led Cicero, when 
he visited Athens, to exclaim : " Shall I ascribe it to a 
law of our nature, or to a delusive habit of mind, that 
when we look upon the scenes which illustrious men of 
old frequented our feelings are more deeply excited than 
even by hearing the record of their deeds, or perusing 
the works of their genius ? Such are the emotions I 
now experience, when I think that here Plato was accus- 
tomed to discourse ; these gardens around me not only 
recall the idea of that sage to my memory, but places as 
it were his very form before my ej^es." 

Dr. Johnson expressed similar feelings upon his 
visit to lona, in the Hebrides, in these eloquent words: 
"To abstract the mind from all local emotion would be 
impossible if it were endeavored, and foolish if it were 



4 HAND BOOK OF 

possible. Whatever withdraws us from the power of 
the senses, whatever makes the past, the distant or the 
future predominate over the present, advances us in the 
dignity of thinking beings. Far from me and from my 
friends be such frigid philosophy as may conduct us, • 
indifferent and unmoved, over any ground which has 
been dignified by wisdom, bravery or virtue. That 
man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not 
gain force on the plains of Marathon, or whose piety 
would not grow warmer amid the ruins of lona." And 
in like manner who is there that has ever felt one 
genuine impulse in the cause of liberty, that will not 
find his love of country increased by a visit to the State 
House at Philadelphia, or who, without finding the 
great and noble principle of self-denying patriotism 
strengthened, can tread the floors of Independence Hall, 
and there gaze upon the very walls made so sacred by the 
secret sorrows and trials of our Revolutionary heroes ? 

The extraordinary intelligence and virtue displayed 
by this assembly of patriots was recognized by sagacious 
and dispassionate observers throughout the world. 
Mirabeau spoke of it as a " company of derhi-gods; " 
and William Pitt, Prime Minister of England, exclaimed, 
" I must declare that in all my reading and observation, 
for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity and wisdom 
of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult 
circumstances, no body of men could stand before the 
National Congress of Philadelphia." 

Our own great statesman, Daniel Webster, felt the 
power of these local associations when he exclaimed: 
" We shall not stand unmoved on the shore of Plymouth 
while the sea continues to wash it, nor will our brethren, 



THE STATE HOUSE. 



in another and ancient Colony forget the place of its 
first establishment till their river shall cease to flow by 
it. No vigor of youth, no maturity of manhood, will 




REAR OF STATE HOUSE — FRONTING ON INDEPENDENCE SyUARE. 



lead the nation to forget the spots where its infancy was 
cradled and defended." 

But if such localities excite our admiration and 
inspire our patriotism — if our feelings are moved at the 



b IIAND BOOK 0^ 

remembrrtnce of deeds performed on the soil where the 
battles of freedom have beea fought — if a spirit of rev- 
erence swells the heart on visiting the altars of liberty, 
and the places wherein our forefathers straggled — what 
will be our emotions when we stand within the conse- 
crated walls of Independence Hall ? A spot sanctified 
by events of a holy and extraordinary character; the 
forum of exalted debate, the arena of the noblest 
thought — the birth-place of American nationality? For 
here are still preserved relics of those brave spirits who 
dared to combat the greatest power of despotic Europe. 
Here was promulgated the charter which incorporated 
the colonies into a nation of freemen, and declared a 
separation from the mother country. ''If battle-fields 
are interesting in their associations, what shall we say 
of this? What history, what picture can ever tell the 
half of what is suggested to every intelligent and sus- 
ceptible mind on entering this venerable edifice?" Who 
is not immediately carried back to that da}^ thenceforth 
memorable forever, when an awful stillness pervaded 
the Assembly for a few moments previous to voting that 
" these United Colonies are ^and ought of right to he ^ free 
and independent States? What devotion then filled 
this consecrated place, and rose to heaven in silent 
prayer for firmr^ss, unanimity and deathless resolve. 
One almost hears Hancock suggesting to Franklin, 
" We must all hang together now." " Yes," re-echoes 
the characteristic response of that plain old Nestor of 
patriots, "we must indeed all hang together, or most 
assuredly we shall all hang separately.''^ And then, too, 
we can almost see John Hancock when he appended 
his signature to that memorable document which 



THE STATE HOUSE. 7 

gave freedom to the American colonies, and hope 
to a world in tyrannical chains, rise from his seat, 
and in a tone of manly boldness, looking at his bold 
signature at the head of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, exclaim — " There, John Bull can read my name 
without spectacles, and may double his reward of five 
hundred pounds for my head. That is my defiance.''^ 

A writer who appreciated this principle of our nature, 
the power of local association, has feelingly said : 
" The heroes, indeed, are departed, but here before us 
is still open their scene of action. Death has claimed 
them, but war and wasting elements have spared the 
theatre of their stupendous struggles. We can go and 
meditate there, gazing at the places where they sat, the 
floor on which they stood, the windows through which 
the bright sun looked in smilingly upon their transac- 
tions, and may touch the walls which seem yet to vibrate 
to the thunders of their eloquence." 

The genius of Liberty, and the spirit of these noble 
men who braved the storms of monarchial usurpation, 
preside with awful imperiousness on the altars of this 
consecrated structure — invisible guardians watch over 
it to protect the sacred relics fjom desecration. Awe- 
inspiring as are the historical incidents connected with 
it, and impressive as are the reminiscences which are 
called into lively existence on reading the proceedings 
of that Convention which promulgated the declaration 
of human rights, thrice grand and beautiful is the mau- 
soleum left to remind us of their labors. Ages may come 
and depart — nations may rise and fall — empires may 
spring into existence and decay — time may deface these 
sacred mementoes ; but their associations will remain to 



THE STATE HOUSE. 9 

inspire patriotic hearts, so long as thoughts of freedom 
burn, or the confederated institutions of the land of 
WASHINGTON are preserved to ameliorate the condi- 
tions of humanit3\ 

THE BUILDING OF THE STATE HOUSE. 

The State House, when originally built, was so en- 
tirely beyond the heart of the town as to seem like a citadel 
without the walls. There were no pavements on the streets 
around it, and the children jealously watchedits rise from 
the fields where they had been wont to go huckleberrying. 

" There is no more sturdy style in the world than 
that of a solid red brick mansion of the Georgian era," 
as an old English writer refreshingly remarks. The 
architecture of this age is convenient, snug and satisfy- 
ing; while its dumpy ornaments of balustrades and 
urns, its string courses, tablets, corner dressings and 
lintels with wedge-shaped keystone have an expression 
all their own, and the red of its brick acquires,with age, 
a becoming gloom that only needs letting alone to be 
perfect. The steeple was erected at a later date than the 
main building, and it shows the more decorative side 
of the Queen Anne style in its wooden urns that hold 
nothing, its Ionic pilasters and its wreath around the 
clock face ; the halls inside are ornamented like some of 
Hogarth's interiors, with mouldings, panelings, and gro- 
tesque faces above the doorwa3^s. Altogether the hall is 
a richly satisfactory specimen of the palace architecture 
at the close of Queen Anne's reign. It stands much as 
it stood in the Revolution, and looks equally sturdy 
and uncompromising in the leafy shadows of summer 
or hooded with the snows of winter. 



10 ■ HAND BOOK OP 

This venerable edifice has always been known as 
the " State House." From that memorable period — 
when the representatives of the nation resolved to be 
free — the room on the east side of the main entrance has 
been designated by the appellation of Independence 
Hall. For wise and patriotic reasons it has not been 
altered. The State House, originally constructed for 
legal business, the dispensation of Colonial statutes for 
Pennsylvania and the transaction of various other mat- 
ters, was commenced in the year 1729, and completed in 
1734. The legislative body first occupied the State 
House in October, 1735. In January following, the 
west room was ordered to " be wainscoted at a conve- 
nient height on three sides, and that the end be neatly 
wainscoted and finished the whole height for the use of 
the Assembly." Its dimensions and architectural plan 
— the design being furnished by an amateur architect, 
named John Kearsley, Sr. — were regarded by many as 
too large and expensive ; and the erection of the build- 
ing was therefore quite strenuously opposed. Had the 
men who first conceived the noble enterprise of building 
it foreseen the exalted character which their contempla- 
ted edifice would assume in future, there would not 
probably have been a single dissenting voice in the lib- 
eral plan projected by its founders. It is a singular 
historical fact, that most of those who opposed the plan 
of the edifice in the commencement, and who were still 
living at the time, says a late writer on the subject, were 
opposed to the adoption of the '^ Declaration of Inde- 
pendence," which occurred within its very walls a quar- 
ter of a century afterward. According to the bills and 
papers kept by Andrew Hamilton, one of the three 



The state house. 11 

Commissioners who had the superintendence of the 
financial matters connected with its construction, it ap- 
pears that the edifice cost originally $16,250. The two 
wings which now form an important addenda to the 
building, however, were not erected until the 3"ears 1739 
and 1740, and increased the total amount of the cost to 
$28,000. Watson, the antiquarian, in his Annals, says : 

" Edmund Woolley did the carpenter work, John 
Harrison the joiner work, Thomas Boude was the brick 
mason, William Holland did the marble work, Thomas 
Ker, plaster, Benjamin Fairman and James Stropes 
made the bricks. The glass and lead cost £170, and the 
glazing in leaden frames was done by Thomas Godfrey, 
the celebrated inventor of the quadrant. The lots on 
the southwest corner of Chestnut and Fifth streets and 
the southeast corner of Chestnut and Sixth streets, were 
appropriated for two public buildings at about this time 
1740, one for the use of the county, and one for the ci:y 
of Philadelphia, for courts and other public purposes." 

Superintendent Hamilton died in 1741 before the 
State House was finished. The building of it was under 
his charge. He must have left his papers in an excel- 
lent condition, as in two weeks after his death his exec- 
utors exhibited to the Assembly his accounts as super- 
intendent of the building. His statement was correct 
and satisfactory. 

A plan for finishing the Court room, the west room, 
first story and the piazzas between the oflfices and the 
Court room, was laid before the House and approved in 
1743. It is probable that tlie building was not com- 
pletely finished until 1744, as toward the close of that 
year Edmund Woolley 's bill was presented to the House. 



12 



HAND BOOK OF 



It was then without tower or steeple. It has been 
somewhat of a puzzle how ascent was made to the upper 
story. It might have been by galleries accessible from 
the piazzas, the steps of which led to the office build- 
ings east and west, or it might have been by stairways 
running right in from the main hall or entrance. The 
front of the building then presented much the same ap. 
pearance that it does now, except the doorway, which 
formerly was perfectly plain and in the same style with 




THE STATE HOUSE, 175O. 

the windows, has been replaced by the present doorway, 
which was substituted after the beginning of the present 
century, by certain officers who made some alterations. 

In 1749 measures were taken to erect the tower on 
the south side of the main hall. The superintendents 
were ordered to proceed as soon as they convenientl}^ 
might, and the tower w^as to contain " the staircase and 
a suitable place therein for hanging a bell." 

The dimensions of the tower of the State House 
were thirty-four by thirty-two feet. The stairway's to 
the upper stories found spacious accommodations there. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 13 

The trustees for the building were not instructed further 
than to erect a tower, but they took the responsibility of 
adding to it a steeple. The whole is 160 feet to top of 
the spire. 

The steeple was raised Nov. 4, 1751, when there 
was a great feast, to which, from the considerable quan- 
tity of provisions, punch, and beer consumed, there 
must have been a large accession of participants beyond 
the carpenters and bricklaj^ers, as a well preserved bill 
of items shows, the bread, meat, beer, potatoes, etc., 
show a total of £14 12s. 8d. 

As early as 1774 the steeple was found to be decay- 
ing, and the superintendents were instructed to take it 
down, and to have the brick work of the tower covered 
in order to save it from damage by the weather ; but all 
this was not effected until 1781, when a low hip roof was 
made to cover the tower, and carried in its centre a slim 
pointed spire. The bell was lowered into the tower, and 
although occasionally heard, it may be said to have 
been retired, as it ceased to do active duty. It was 
not till 1828 that any attention was given to the 
restoration of the steeple. In March, 1828, after con- 
siderable debate in Councils, an appropriation of $12,000 
was made for a new steeple on the tower. Mr. Strick- 
land, as architect, made the plan for the new steeple, 
but designed it all of brick. This was thought not to be 
in harmony with the rest of the building, and too much 
unlike the original steeple of 1776, so that Strickland 
was forced to change his plan by making the two 
upper stories of wood, as was the original tower and 
steeple. The committee stipulated that it should be 
carried up to a proper height to place a clock and bell 



14 



HAND BOOK OP 



in, to be called the City clock, from which the time of 
the whole city can be regulated. The first story above 
the tower was what might be called a " dumb-story," 
and attracted no attention by any inward or outward 




CLOCK ROOM IN THE STEEPLE. 



ornament. The next story was the clock room, and 
above that was the turrv}t, in which hung the bell, the 
open arches of which were set upon a base sufficientl}^ 
high to give access to a small gallery on all sides. A 
sight of the city from this gallery of the State House 
steeple was one of the town wonders for nearl}^ half a 



THE STATE HOUSE. 15 

century after the steeple was finished, not only to citi- 
zens but to strangers. The latter, after they had seen 
the Fairmount Water Works, visited Girard College, 
climbed the State House steeple, inspected the method 
of coinage in the Mint, might be allowed to go home and 
boast that they had thoroughly seen Philadelphia. Strick- 
land's plan, thus modified b}^ wood instead of brick is so 
nearly a reproduction of the old steeple, that it is sub- 
stantially declared to be a renewal of the original design. 

THE BELLS AND CLOCKS OF THE STATE HOUSE. 

At the sessions of 1750-51, the House passed a 
resolution directing that the superintendents provide a 
bell of such weight and dimensions as they shall think 
suitable." The Committee a few months afterwards 
prepared the following letter, which resulted in the casting 
of what was known afterwards as " the Libert}^ Bell : " 
To Robert Charles, of London, Nov. 1, 1751. 

"Respected Friend: — The Assembly having ordered us 
(the Superintendents of the State House) to procure a bell from 
England, to be purchased for their use, we take the Uberty to apply 
ourselves to thee to get us a good bell of about 2000 pounds weight, 
the cost of which we may presume may amount to about one hun- 
dred pounds sterling, or perhaps with the charges, etc., more. 

" We hope and rely upon thy care and assistance in this affair, 
that thou wilt procure and forward it by the first opportunity, as 
our workmen inform us it will be less trouble to hang the bell be- 
fore their scaffolds are struck from the building, where we intend to 
place it, which will not be done until the end of next summer, or 
the beginning of fall. Let the bell be cast by the best workmen, 
and examine carefully, before it is shipped,with the following words 
well shaped, in large letters around it, viz. : 

" By order of the Assembly of Pennsy., for the State Home in the 
City of Fhila., 1152:' 

And underneath, 



16 HAND BOOK OF 

" Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants 
thereof" — Leviticus xxv: 10.* 

" As we have experienced thy readiness to serve this province 
on all occasions, we desire it may be our excuse for this additional 
trouble from thy assured friends : " Isaac Norris. 

"Thomas Leech. 
" Edward Warren." 

This bell, ordered by the Assembly, was brought 
from London to Philadelphia, in the ship " Matilda," 
and landed about the end of August, 1752. It was ex- 
pected to be of the best quality, but when hung, and 
being tried for the sound, " it was cracked by a stroke 
of the clapper witliout any other violence." Much 
disappointed, the superintendent determined to ship the 
bell back to England to be re-cast. But Captain Bud- 
den, of the ship that brought it, had a large cargo, and 
had no room for the bell. In this emergency Pass & 
Stow, founders, of Philadelphia, undertook to re-cast 
the bell from the old material. The mould was opened 
March 10, 1753, and one of the trustees writing to 
Europe, said : " The mould w^as finished in a very 
masterly manner, and the letters, I am told, are better 
than the old ones. When we broke up the old bell our 
judges here generally agreed that it was too high and 
brittle, and cast several little bells out of it to try the 
sound and strength, and fixed upon a mixture of an 

* This motto, taken from the Bible, referred to the year of Jubilee in the 
Jewish Commonwealth, celebrated every fiftieth year, when all property was 
to revert back to its original owners, and all persons held in slavery were to 
be freed. The motto for the bell was selected by Isaac Norris, Chairman of 
the Assembly. In 1778, when the American forces were about to leave Phila- 
delphia, this bell was taken down by the Commissary and taken away to 
prevent its falling into the hands of the British, who were then about to 
occupy the city. It was brought back and hung in its former frame in 1782, 
but not in the steeple, that having shown signs of decay. It now rang its 
prophetic tones for the first time over a land of freedom. "For fifty yeart 
(as nearly as can be ascertained), it celebrated every National Anniversary, 
and then— if cracked. It had performed its mission, and was mute forever." 



THE STATE HOUSE. 



17 



ounce and a half of copper to one pound of the old bell, 
and in this proportion we now have it." But it turned 
out that the sound was not entirely satisfactory. It was 
thought that there was too much copper in it, and Pass 
and Stow made another trial. The third bell was con- 
sidered satisfactory, but Isaac Norris did not like it, as 




THE OLD LIBERTY BELL. 

he confessed in a letter some months afterward, and even 
then made some mention of a determination to have 
another bell cast in England. 

The following notice shows that the third bell was 
put in place : 

June 7, 1753. Last week was raised and fixed in the State- 
House steeple the new great bell cast here by Pass and Stow, weighing 
2,080 pounds, with this motto : " Proclaim Liberty throughout all 
the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Levit. xxv 10." 



18 HAND BOOK OF 

The original bell cost £198. Pass and Stow, for re- 
casting it, received, in September, lt53, £60 13s. 5d. 
They had the benefit of the old material, and added but 
little. On the 8th of July, 1776, it is probable this bell 
was rung, as the public reading of the Declaration which 
took place in the State-House yard on that day, and 
there were great rejoicings. John Adams, in writing to 
Samuel Chase, on July 9, said : " The bells rang all day, 
and almost all night." 

After the original steeple and bell had been decided 
upon a clock was ordered by resolution in March, 1752. 
It was intended it should " strike on the bell in 
the tower, and that there should be a suitable dial 
plate to show the hours and the minutes." The 
dials of this clock were fixed in round windows, in the 
east and west gables of the State House building. The 
round windows still exist there. The clock movements 
were immediately under the roof, near the centre. In 
deference to the custom of the time, when tall clocks 
were found in the best houses, the dials were cased in a 
stone imitation of an eight-day clock. 

On September, 1777, by order of the Executive 
Council, the State House bell and the bells of Christ 
Church, and St. Peter's, were ordered to be taken 
down and removed to a place of safety. This action 
was taken, it is said, because at that time it was recog- 
nized as one of the rights of the captors of a town 
to seize upon the Church bells as being " spoils of war " 
and serviceable for the casting of cannon. These bells, 
eleven in all, were removed to AUentown, Pa., by the 
way of Bethlehem, in the streets of which, the wagon 
bearing the State House bell, broke down and had 



THE STATE HOUSE. 



19 



to be unloaded. After the evacuation of the city by the 
British Army they were brought back, and the State 
House bell was placed in its old position in the latter 
part of the year lYtS. 




STATE HOUSE IN 1778, FROM A PRINT PUBLISHED AT THAT DATE. 

After the alterations made in 1828, a new bell being 
put in the steeple, the "Liberty Bell" remained in 
an upper story of the tower upon the heavy frame 
work which sustained it. It became a venerated object, 
and it was tacitly determined that it should only be 
rung on special occasions of rejoicing, or to commemo- 
rate some event of public importance. It was tolled in 



20 HAND BOOK OF 

1828 upon the reception of the news of the emancipa- 
tion of the Catholics by act of the British Parliament. 
Its sharp tones were heard Feb. 22, 1832, when the cen- 
tennial birthday of Washington was celebrated. It 
might have been used on other occasions, but an end was 
put to its usefulness early in the morning of July 8, 
1835. While being tolled in memory of Chief Justice 
Marshall, who had died in the city two days before, and 
whose remains were then being conveyed to the wharf 
to be sent to Virginia, a large crack was developed in 
the bell, starting from the rim and inclining in a right- 
hand direction toward the crown. This break was at 
first only eight or ten inches in length, but when the 
bell was rung on Feb. 22,1843, it was so much increased 
that never again could the sound of the famous old in- 
strument be heard at a distance of more than a few feet. 
Thenceforth it became a silent memento of the historic 
past. 

John Wiltbank was awarded the contract for the 
new bell of 1828, the weight to be forty-two hundred 
pounds. The calculations for the casting were made as 
scientifically as possible, and were very close, the bell 
exceeding the expected weight only seventy-five pounds. 
The contract was at the rate of 45 cents per pound, and 
the weight after it was cast was 4,275 pounds, costing 
nearly $2000. The dimensions of the bell were: height, 
5 ft. 9 in. ; diameter at bottom, 5 ft. 1^ in. ; thickest part, 
4J in. ; thinnest part, 1 J in. There w^as a clapper to the 
bell which was not used. For sounding the hour it was 
struck by a hammer on the outside, by the action of 
machinery. For the purpose of alarm in timeoffire,there 
was another hammer on the opposite side of tlie bell, A 



THE STATE HOUSE. 



21 



rope at the end of the hammer led to the story sur- 
rounded by the open gallery, and here the janitor, who 
with his family, lived in the tower, struck the bell for 
fire-alarm. 

Mr. Wiltbank's first casting was unsatisfactory in 
tone ; it was broken up and re-cast in different proportions. 
That bell was cracked almost as soon as put in use. A 
third bell was cast, the fine, deep tones of which were 
perfectly familiar to every citizen for over a half a century. 




THE "SEYBERT" BELL. 

In 1876, Henry Sej^bert, a citizen of Philadelphia, 
anxious to do honor to the Centennial year, offered to 
present to the city a new bell and clock for the State 
House steeple, much more grand in its proportions. 
The new bell weighed 13,000 pounds, and when placed 
in the steeple it was first rung at 12 o'clock midnight of 
July 3, to usher in the Centennial year ; but the tone was 



^2 HAND BOOK OF 

SO low that it could not be heard at a comparatively short 
distance, and was altogether unsatisfactory. A firm in 
Troy, N. Y., were the bell- founders. It was sent back 
to them to be re-cast. Like its predecessors in the State 
House, it required three trials to produce a perfect bell; 
the second casting was so unsatisfactory that it was 
broken up, and the third bell was cast and brought to 
the city and put in place. It has never been as resonant 
as the bell of 1 828, but after the third trial the bell of 1 876 
was accepted, and has since done duty in the tower."* 
Its tone is believed by many to be improving with time. 

There seemed to be a fatality about the State 
House bells. It took three castings in 1152-53 to get 
a perfect bell, and it required just as many in 1828. 

The" Liberty Bell " was taken from its frame in 1854 
and for many years stood on a pedestal in Independence 
Hall fitted up in a style commensurate with the impress- 
ive character and associations connected with it. This 
bell was then placed upon a pedestal having ^/iiWe6?/i sides, 
representing the number of States that confederated for 
the accomplishment of freedom, with the American Flag 
gracefully folded above and around it. A stuffed eagle 
was placed upon the bell, holding in its beak the E Plu- 
ribus TJnum of the land. 

When the '' Seybert bell " was put in the steeple in 
1876 the old " Liberty bell" was hung in the tower by a 
chain of thirteen links, as shown in our illustration. In 
January, 1885, this old bell was taken down and loaned 
to the City of New Orleans, to add to the attractions of 
the World's Fair that was then being held in that city. 
The bell was attended by an escort of three cit}^ policemen, 

* Scharf and VVestcott's History of Philadelphia. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 



23 



two of whom never left it day or night. On June 17, 
it was returned to Philadelphia, and again hung in 
its place, where it is to-day. 




The construction of the new steeple, in 1828, led to 
the acquisition of a new clock, which was made at a 



24 HAND BOOK OF 

cost of $2,000. This proved to be an excellent clock, 
and for many years was the standard for city time. 
Four clock faces, about nine feet in diameter, were 
fitted in the steeple, and these were made of ground 
glass, which was then considered a great novelty. What 
was yet more surprising was the fact, demonstrated as 
soon as gas began to be burned, that by strong-lights in 
the clock-room the dial plates could be illuminated at 
night, and seen from a great distance. Nothing of the 
kind could be possible with the old clock, and the new 
arrangement was so unusual that travelers frequently 
spoke of it with admiration. 

In 18T6, when Henry Seybert offered to supply the 
city with a new bell, he also expressed the desire to 
furnish a better clock than that which was in use. There 
was not much complaint about the old clock, but the 
offer being generous, it could not very well be sepa- 
rated by acceiMng the bell and refusing the clock. 
Mr. Seybert 's proposition was therefore accepted, and a 
new clock was constructed by the Seth Thomas Clock 
Company, of Connecticut. 

The bell and clock of 1828 were now removed to Ger- 
mantown, where they do duty in the Town Hall of that 
ancient borough. 

THE FORMER USES OF THE STATE HOUSE. 

Grave and deliberate as were the general purposes 
during the early period of the Revolution, to wTiich the 
" State House " was appropriated in the Colonial days 
of Pennsylvania, it was on several occasions used as a 
hall of banqueting. In the long gallery, upstairs, the 
feasting tables were spread, around which hilarity and 



THE STATE HOUSE. 25 

mirthfulness prevailed, while the tables themselves were 
loaded with every desirable luxury. Soon after the 
edifice was completed, in 1736, William Allen, Esq., 
then Mayor of Philadelphia, made a feast at his own 
expense. This entertainment, which was of a sumptu- 
ous and costly character, was spread in the State House, 
and the Mayor extended his invitations to all distin- 
guished strangers in the city. The number of invited 
guests exceeded any at the feasts given in the city on 
previous occasions, while those who partook of his 
hospitality expressed their nnanimous consent that, 
"for excellency of fare, it was a most elegant enter- 
tainment." On the arrival of their new Colonial gov- 
ernor, Denny, in 1756, while the Assembly was in session, 
that bod}^ gave him a reception dinner, and this feast 
was likewise spread at the State House, at which the 
" civil and militar}^ officers and the clergy of the city " 
were present. This entertainment occurred in August, 
and was an important event during the session of the 
Assembly. It had a tendency to harmonize various 
antagonistical personal feelings, which were looked 
upon as boding no particular good to the new adminis- 
tration. Again, when Lord Louden, commander-in- 
chief of the King's forces in the several Colonies, visited 
the city in the year 1757, the corporation received him 
at the State House by a grand banquet. General Forbes, 
who was then commander in Philadelphia and of the 
southern settlements, was also present on that occasion. 
Various guests were invited, among whom were officers 
of rank, gentlemen, strangers, clergy, and private citi- 
zens, who partook of these municipal hospitalities. It 
was remarked by some uninvited guests at the time, 



26 HAND BOOK OP 

that the expenditure for this entertainment was greater 
than had ever before been made by the authorities for 
public receptions, which indicated a very early hospi- 
tality to such feasts, especially when given at the 
expense of the public treasury. 

When, in 1774, the first Congress met in Philadel- 
phia, a sumptuous collation was prepared by the gentle- 
men of the city, for the entertainment of its represent- 
atives, the " State House " was selected as the building 
in which the iestive ceremonies should be performed. 
The members and invited guests congregated first at the 
" City Tavern " (S. W. Cor. Front and Market Sts.) 
and thence marched in an imposing procession to the 
State House, in the-dining hall in which the repast was 
spread. About 500 persons partook of the dinner, and when 
the toasts were given they were rendered patriotic by the 
"firing of cannon and martial music." These festive occa- 
sions exerted salutary influences upon public sentiment, 
and had a tendency to develop, and in no small degree bind 
together the political feelings which actuated the people. 

It seems proper that mention should be made here of the ven- 
erated building adjoining the State House, on the corner of Sixth 
and Chestnut Streets. On the 6th of April, 1789, General Wash- 
ington was selected the first President of the United States, and the 
same month he left Mount Vernon for his inauguration in New 
York, passing through Philadelphia. A year later, 1790, Congress 
decided to return to Philadelphia, the birth place of freedom, and 
for the next ten years it served as the Capital city of the Nation. 
The Supreme Court sat in the Hall, on the corner of Fifth and 
Chestnut Streets, the first building shown in our frontispiece, and 
Congress was accommodated in a building that had been erected for 
use as a County Court House on the corner of Sixth and Chestnut, 
the other end of the row of which the State House is the centre. 
In this building known then as " Congress Hall " Washington and 
Adams were inaugurated for the second term of their Presidency 
and Vice-Presidency in 1793, and Jeffisrson in 1797. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 27 

We have remarked that the State " House " was 
used for various purposes. In 1802 the Legislature of 
Pennsylvania granted to Charles Wilson Peale, the use 
of the upper rooms in which the public banquets were 
formerly given, for the exhibition of curiosities which 
he had collected and arranged under the title of the 
'' Philadelpliia lluseum.''^ This institution was com- 
menced in the year 1784, with the simple donation of a 
" paddle-fish " from the Ohio river. From that time 
nntil his decease, Mr. Peale was engaged in conveying 
instruction and amusement to the citizens of Philadel- 
phia, and all who wished to visit his museum. Mr. Peale 
was very particular as to the class of his visitors. He 
aimed to preserve it as '' a resort for the virtuous and 
refined of society." The museum contained a large col- 
lection of fossil reliquiae of our country and Europe, at 
the head of which w^as the mammoth, the bones of 
whose skeleton was discovered in a morass, in Ulster 
county, 'New York, by persons digging for marl. Cab- 
inets of fish, reptiles, comparative anatomy, and a 
numerous collection of miscellaneous articles of works of 
art, implements, dresses, arms, antiquities, and so forth, 
from various parts of the globe. In the quadruped 
room were stuffed specimens of some two hundred ani- 
mals, large and small. In the marine room were bodies 
of large fish, alligators, serpents and reptiles. In the 
yard were placed in cages a few living animals which 
could stand existence in the open air in summer and 
winter. The museum also contained many valuable 
paintings of officers and diplomatic characters who fig- 
ured during the Revolution, which were painted by Mr. 
Peale during that stormy period. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 29 

In 1824, La Fayette, on his second visit to the Uni- 
ted States, was tendered a public reception at the State 
House. On this occasion the condition of the building 
and the changes that had taken place in its interior ap- 
pearance attracted public attention. Since the year 1800 
some persons in temporary authority had taken advan- 
tage of their opportunity to "modernize" the fine East 
Room, known as " Independence Hall," in which the 
Constitutional Convention had held its sittings, and 
where the Declaration had been signed. The ancient 
panelings, the carvings, the old furniture, even the beau- 
tiful chandelier, a relic of Colonial days, were torn 
down, cast aside as useless lumber, and replaced by 
something they thought to be " prettier." It was 
resolved that this room, famous as the scene of so many 
imjDortant historical events, should be restored to its 
original condition ; and in 1833 a sum of money was 
voted for this purpose.* A large part of the old wood 
work was found intact in the lumber-rooms of the 
building ; what was lacking was replaced by new carvings 
made after the pattern of the old ; and in all im- 
portant particulars the room now bears the aspect 
which it bore, when, with John Adams as President of 
the Senate, the debates of the first United Congress 
were conducted with " the most delightful silence, the 
most beautiful order, gravity, and personal dignity of 

* It was in this room in June, 1787, when the provisions of the 
Constitution were being debated, that Benjamin Franklin handed 
up his celebrated motion that harmonized the whole question 
between the advocates of a strong Central government, or a strong 
State power. He moved *' that in the Senate every State should 
have equal representation, but in the House, representation should 
be according to population." It is reported that Washington said 
at the time, that this compromise plan saved the Constitution, 



30 HAND BOOK OF 

manner," and " three gentle taps " from the silver pen- 
cil-case of the President were enough to compose the 
most excited discussions and " restore everything to 
repose and the most respectful attention." 

This room has also occasionally been used as an 
exhibition-room. The use of the room for that purpose, 
after Peale's Museum had left it, was to exhibit Trum- 
bull's picture of " Washington Resigning to Congress 
his Commission;" this was in 1824. Subsequently 
other prominent paintings were exhibited there, gener- 
ally of a national subject, but Councils concluded that 
making a show-room of the Independence chamber was 
not in harmony with the character of the building and 
its associations. 

On the 8th of March, 1847, the remains of John 
Quincy Adams lay in state in Independence Hall, while 
being conveyed from Washington, where he died, to his 
late home in Quincy, Mass. The building was heavily 
draped in black. The body arrived on the evening of 
the 7th, escorted by a torchlight procession, and after 
remaining in the hall all night, was on the next day 
taken on its way. 

After the assassination of President Lincoln, in 
April, 1865^ his body passed through Philadelphia, and 
on the 22d of April it was borne to the State House, 
and lay in the hall where the Declaration of Independ- 
ence was signed until the 24th. It was visited in the 
two days and nights by over 75,000 people, and the 
crowds continued packed for squares, when the body 
was taken away on the journey to Springfield. As on 
similar former occasions the State House was completely- 
draped in mourning. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 31 

In May, 1 87 1, ex-President Grant, previous to start- 
ing on his famous trip around the world, held a reception in 
Independence Hall by the invitation of Councils. He sailed 
from Philadelphia and was accompanied from the hall to 
the steamship Indiana by many prominent citizens. 

The State House building has been used for United 
States Courts and District Courts. Indeed, almost all 
kinds of legal tribunals have at different times been ac- 
commodated within its sacred walls. In 1854, when the 
city proper was consolidated with all the outlying towns 
and districts, including indeed, what was the whole 
county of Philadelphia, the municipal government de- 
termined upon using the State House itself, and gave 
notice to the United States Courts to remove from the 
second story building. The east chamber over Inde- 
pendence Hall was then fitted up for the Select Council 
and the west one for the Common Council, with a small 
committee room adjoining. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

In 1*736 all of the ground comprised in the square 
south of the State House was bought, the buildings then 
on it were torn down and the conditions were that the 
" said ground should he enclosed and remain a public 
green and ivalk forever.'^ An appropriation of £5000 was 
made for the purchase. After the seat of the State gov- 
ernment was removed to Harrisburg in 1813,the title to 
the property remained in the commonwealth of Penn- 
sylvania ; a bill was soon introduced into the Assembly to 
sell the property or else open it up with streets. The 
people of Philadelphia were indignant at this apparent 
degradation of the State House square, and sent a 



82 HAND BOOK OF 

vigorous protest to the State Legislature. On March, 1816, 
the Assembly, in consideration of the feeling of the cit- 
izens of Philadelphia in the matter, made a proviso 
that if the city within ten days before the 1st of June 
(the day named for the sale), make a contract with the 
Governor of the State for the purchase of the State 
House, clock and ground for $tO,000 and pay one-third 
within five days thereafter, the sale should not take 
place, but that the lot and State House proper shall be 
vested in the City of Philadelphia. Councils raised the 
funds by loan. And thus this valuable property became 
the property of the city. 

The State House pavement was, in former days, sup- 
plied with two pumps, each at about the spot where now 
stands the watering fountains. As these pumps fur- 
nished pure spring water they were much used, particu- 
larly on hot days. Day and night the handles were 
going, which in time helped to keep the waters pure and 
cold. Placards were placed on the pumps by the 
Humane Society, warning persons not to indulge too 
freely^ in the use of the water while heated. 

The fire fiend has dealt very leniently with the State 
House; while there have been many and serious fires in 
the vicinity, both at the corners of Fifth and Chestnut 
and Sixth and Chestnut streets, they have not touched 
the old sacred edifice. In 1824, three desperadoes set 
the Mayor's oflTice on fire, which was located in close 
proximity, but the fire was discovered in time to prevent 
a serious conflagration. Their intention, it was after- 
ward learned, was to murder Mayor Wharton, in whose 
court they had previously been convicted of crime. 
For this charge of attempted murder of the Mayor they 



THE STATE HOUSE. 33 

were arrested, and the prosecuting attorney also brought 
a charge against them of conspiring to burn the State 
House and the residence of Mr. Peale, the proprietor of 
the museum. The three men were convicted on all of 
the counts and were sentenced to twelve years imprison- 
ment each. This is the only attempt that was ever made 
to harm the venerated edifice. 

The State House pavement was now without shade 
and was a very uncomfortable place in midday in sum- 
mer. An effort was made in 1821 to plant shade trees 
along the State House front from Fifth to Sixth street. 
Poulson^s Advertiser said in reference to this : " It will 
be a salubrious exchange for the arid bricks that have 
been boiling our brains there these fifty years." The 
Ailanthus tree was chosen as being of quick growth and 
thick foliage, and the State House pavement soon be- 
came as " umbrageous as a forest." But soon the trees 
became badly attacked by worms and were ordered to be 
cut down. But the change to the open sun was more than 
the people could stand ; the place was soon supplied by 
silver maples. These grew finely, and the State House 
front soon again was restored to its original green. 

The present flag-mast upon the State House was 
erected in February, 1861, pending the excitement that 
preceded the firing upon Fort Sumter at the beginning 
of the civil war. Abraham Lincoln, who had been 
elected President of the United States in the fall of 
1860, was on his way, in February, '61, to Washington, 
and was invited by a deputation of citizens to visit 
Philadelphia and to hoist the new flag with the thirty- 
four stars for the first time. This was hoisted on the 22d. 
of February. Mr. Lincoln, after visiting Independence 



34 



HAND BOOK OF 



Hall and inspecting the relics, at 8 o'clock in the 
morning, hoisted the flag on the new pole, standing 
upon a platform in front of the State House, amid the 
booming of cannon, the music of a brass band, singing 
of patriotic songs, and cheers of the populace. 




THE WASHINGTON STATUE. 



In 1860, a movement was begun by the children of 
the public schools of Philadelphia to erect a monument 



THE STATE HOUSE. 35 

to Washington, and the most appropriate place seemed 
to be in the neighborhood of the State House. When 
the fund was nearly raised, Councils were applied to 
and gave a space in the pavement directly opposite the 
Chestnut street entrance. Here on the 5th of July, 
18G9, the statue of Washington was unveiled. It was 
designed and made by J. A. Bailey, a sculptor of Phil- 
adelphia, and is 8 ft. 6 in. high, carved out of a single 
block of Italian marble, a piece of stone free from 
blemish or fault of any kind. Washington is repre- 
sented in the citizen's dress of the period. The face is 
copied from the famous likeness by Stuart, while the 
form is dignified and graceful in its position. The base 
is composed of Richmond granite. The height of the 
base and pedestal is ten feet, making the entire height 
of the statue 18 ft. 6 in. It is surrounded by a neat 
iron railing. On the pedestal is this inscription • 

ERECTED 
BY THE 

WASHINGTON 
MONUMENT ASSOCIATION, 

OF THE 

FIRST SCHOOL DISTRICT 

OF 

PENNSYLVANIA, 

JULY 4. 1869. 



ILEY, SCULPTOR, 



The City Councils of Philadelphia, while they highly 
prize the State House and all of its associations, have 
always, without political bias, extended the use of it to 
honor any worthy and prominent citizen or cause. 



36 HAND BOOK OF 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

" The greatest national memorial in the history 
of the United States is Independence Hall in the old 
State House. This was the birthplace of the Republic. 
Delegates from each colon}^ (appointed, in some cases 
by the existing legislative bodies, in others by Com- 
mittees of Safety) had just met in Carpenters' Hall to 
devise measures for uniform action in approaching their 
recognized sovereign by petition, in order to obtain 
redress for grievances. Failing in these efforts they 
returned to Philadelphia in the spring of 1775, with the 
anticipation of a prolonged session, when the hall used 
by " the representatives of the freemen of the Province 
of Pennsylvania " (hence the name " State House"), was 
assigned to them for their sittings. Thus it was in that 
very hall, June, 1775, on motion of Thomas Johnson, 
of Maryland, George Washington was unanimously 
elected commander-in-chief of the armies raised, and to 
be raised for the defence of America. 

But above all, it was here, in the east room, now 
known as Independence Chamber, that on tlie 7th of 
June, 1776, John Hancock occupying the President's 
chair, the memorable act was initiated that sanctifies 
the whole building. Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, 
rises in his place. He holds in his hand instructions 
from the convention assembled at Williamsburg, which 
had been brought to him but a few dsijs before by 
Thomas Nelson, Jr., himself then present as a member. 
Mr. Lee reads a resolution, which is still extant in his 
own hand-writing, a reduced copy of which we herewith 
give. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 8T 



^( 1 'y^ 






FAC-SIMILE OF THE RESOLtTTION OFFERED BY RICHARD HENRY LEE. 

"Resolved— That these United Colonies are, and of right ought 
to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all 
allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection 
between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be 
totally dissolved—" 

This resolution laid the foundation for the immor- 
tal Declaration of Independence. Many good and 
patriotic men opposed this resolution, among them John 
Adams, Samuel Adams, Gerry, McKean, Dickinson, 
and Robert Morris, who being restrained by their 
instructions, feared that the adoption of the resolution 
at that time would produce a divided action throughout 
the country. A meagre house induced a postponement un- 
til the next day, and after a reference to the Committee of 
the Whole, the 1st of July was fixed as the day for further 
consideration, but," least anytime should be lost in case 
the Congress agree to this resolution," a committee was 
appointed to prepare A Declaration in consonance 
therewith.* 

On the 1st of July, Benjamin Harrison, the chair- 
man, reported Mr. Lee's resolution and referred it to a 

*Etting's " Memorials of 1776." 



88 HAND BOOK OS* 

committee of five, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman 
and Livingston. The Declaration was immediately 
written and presented to Congress on the 2d of July, 
and on the 4th of July, after anxious, earnest and able 
debate, paragraph by paragraph, it received the approval 
of all present, and was ordered to be engrossed. Many 
of the members not then present afterwards signed it. 

It is recorded by one writer, that "■ on the 4th of 
July, when the motion to adopt the Declaration passed 
the majority of the Assembly, although not signed by all 
of the delegates, that the old bell-ringer in the belfry 
awaited anxiously, with trembling hope, the signing. 
He kept saying, " they'll 7iever do it ? — theiiHl never do 
it P'' but whose eyes expanded, and whose grasp grew 
firmer when the voice of the blue-eyed youth reached his 
ears in shouts of triumph as he flew up the stairs of the 
tower, shouting, " Ring I Ring ! they've signed ! " 

No patriot canlookupon this old bell without recall- 
ing the circumstances with its first proclamation to the 
world, that the United Colonies were" free and independ- 
ent States." To some, the sound of the bell, gave the first 
thrill of enthusiastic resistance to despotic power — to 
some it was a harbinger of joy — to others it imparted 
strength in the hour of gloom— to others again, it was a 
messenger of evil, causing them to sneak away, mutter- 
ing as they did so — " TFe/Z, ive are in a j^retty mess of 
trouble now ! " But the same patriot, i:)assing over the 
history of some years might have heard in the same 
vicinity, on the 23d of October, 1781, in the boding 
hour of night a very different proclamation ; — Past twelve 
o^clock and Gornwallis is taken! " Then might be seen 
mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, hastening 



THE STATE HOUSE. 39 

to the windows, in dreamy abstractions of delight, joy- 
fully exclaiming : " Who is taken ? " while the old time 
city watchman, plodded on his wa}^, shouting continually, 
"Why, Cornwallis, he was taken by Washington and 
Lafayette, at Yorktown I Past twelve o'clock and Corn- 
wallis taken ! " The " pretty mess of trouble " which 
the sound of the " old State House bell " had plunged 
the people into had been successfully overcome, the 
ship of State had safely weathered the storm, and the 
Colonies were free. For the remainder of that night the 
hours of the people were sleepless ; friend congratulated 
friend, and the united prayers of gratefulness ascended 
to the God of battles. Who would not then have been 
on the side of liberty ? Who did not feel that the cause 
of these struggling patriots was good ? There were 
none to say, " We are in a pretty mess of trouble now." 
No, the sword of the oppressor was broken, and the 
nation of freemen stood a towering prodigy before the 
eyes of an astonished world. Said Franklin, after look- 
ing at the carved back of President Hancock's chair, 
" I have often wondered whether this emblem was meant 
to represent the rising or the setting sun. I see now 
plainly it is the rising sun." 

The place of reading the Declaration, the first time 
in public, was the old " observatory," erected by the 
American Philosophical Society from which to observe 
the transit of Yenus in 1769. It was a rough staging 
in Independence Square. 

In 1873 efforts to commemorate in this building the 
approaching Centennial met with the approbation of the 
Mayor, William S. Stokley. A Committee on " Restora- 
tion " was formed and strenuous efforts were made in the 



40 



HAND BOOK OF 



cause by the following gentlemen : Mr. Frank M. Et- 
ting (Chairman), Messrs. Morton McMichael, John Shoe- 
maker, W. G. Littleton, A. Wilson Henszey and J; H. 
Pugh. 

Independence Chamber was then devoted to the Com- 
memoration of the Signing of the Declaration. Here is the 
table upon which the Declaration was signed, the desk of 
Secretary Thompson, and the chairs of the signers, as far 
as they were recoverable ; and the portraits of the signers 
— ^minus twenty — ten of whom we knew never sat for their 
portraits, namely, Braxton, Morton, Rodney, Hart, Gwin- 
nett, Penn, Hall, Smith, Taylor and Thornton, and it is 
feared Francis L. Lee. 

The " National Museum " is the auxiliary chamber 
to Independence Hall, and here maybe found many inter- 
esting relics of Colonial and Revolutionary Days. 




SILVER INKSTAND, USED IN SIGNING THE DECLARATION. 
NOW IN THE MUSEUM. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 41 

COPY OF THE ORIGINAI, DRAFT 

OF THE 

DKCI.ARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:. 

As submitted to Congress by the Committee, with the 
erasures and amendments it received during the debate 
when Congress, with closed doors for some days, de- 
bated upon it paragraph by paragraph. In these alter- 
ations one can almost see the line of thought that 
guided these patriots and admire their perspicuity of 
language in framing this immortal document. 

COPY.* 

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN STATES OP 
AMERICA. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to as- 
sume among the powers of the earth the seperate and 
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of 
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the 
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare 
the causes which impel them to the seperation. 

We hold these truths to be self evident : That all men 
are created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with ir.herent p . nd iRalionablc -[ceHa^r^ unalien- 
able'] Rights ; that among these are Life, Liberty and 
the pursuit of Happiness ; that to secure these rights 
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their 

* Note. — The parts of the original document that were finally 
stricken out are here shown by being " erased," and the words supplied 
are shown by being put in iia/ic letters in brackets. After it was thus 
agreed to by Congress it was ordered to be engrossed on parchment 
in a complete form (as here corrected), which original Engrossed Copy 
is now in the Patent Office at Washington, and an exact copy, with 
the signatures, is in the National Museum in the State House. It 
was in this document that the term United States of America was 
first used. 



42 HAND BOOK 01* 

just powers from the consent of the governed ; that 
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive 
of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its 
foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers 
in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect 
their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will 
dictate, that Governments long established should not 
be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accord- 
ingly, all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more 
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to 
riglit themselves by abolishing the forms to which they 
are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and 
and usurpations, begun at a distant period, and pursu- 
ing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to re- 
duce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, 
it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to 
provide new Guards for their future security. Such has 
been the patient sufferance of these Colonies ; and such 
is now the necessity which constrains them to expunge 
[a/^er] their former Systems of Government. The his- 
tory of the present King of Great Britain is a history of 
unremitting \_repeated^ injuries and usurpations ; among 
which appear? nc solitary fact to contradict the uni l^o^'^^H: 
tenor of the rest ; h^ all kavc [having'] in direct object 
the establishment of an absolute Tj^ranny over these 
States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a can- 
did world, for the tr^tb of which we pledg e a faith 3'ot 
unsullied hy fakehocd . 

He has refused his assent to Laws the most whole- 
some and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of 
immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended 
in their operation till his assent should be obtained ; 
and when so suspended, he has neglected utterly 
[utterly neglected] to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accom- 
modation of large districts of people, unless those people 



THE STATE HOUSE. 43 

would relinquish the right of Representation in Icgie 
lation l^the Legislature'] ; a right inestimable to them, 
and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places 
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository 
of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing 
them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly 
R ud contiDu a ll^^, for opposing with manly firmness his 
invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolu- 
tions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legis- 
lative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned 
to the People at large for their exercise ; the State re- 
maining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of 
invasion from without and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
States ; for that purpose obstructing the Law for Natur- 
alization of Foreigners ; refusing to pass others to en- 
courage their migration hither ; and raising the conditions 
of new Appropriations of Lands. 

Hq hag euffcrcd the administration of j ustice totally 
to G C RSC in come of the States ; [/le has obstructed the 
administration of justice by] refusing his assent to Laws 
for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made our Judges dependent on his will alone 
for the tenure of their otiices and the amount and pay- 
ment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of New Offices by r self 
assumed power, and sent hither swarms of Officers to 
harass our people and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace. Standing 
Armies and Ships o f-Way, without the Consent of our 
legislatures. 

He has affected to render the Military independent of, 
and superior to, the Civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a 
jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unac- 



44 HAND BOOK OF 

knowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts 
of pretended Legislation. 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among 
us. 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish- 
ment for any murders which they should commit on 
the Inhabitants of these States. 

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world. 

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent. 

For depriving us [in many cases'] of the benetits of 
Trial by Jury. 

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for 
pretended offences. 

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in 
a neighboring Province, establishing therein an arbi- 
trary government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as 
to render it at once an example and fit instrument 
for introducing the same absolute rule into these -S tatc o 
[Colonies.'] 

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most 
valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms 
of our Governments. 

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated Government here, withdr a w iB:g his- 
gcv o rnorg, and [by] declaring us out of his all e gianc e 
■aedr Protection, and waging War against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of 
foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, 
desolation and tyranny, already begun, with circum- 
stances of cruelty and perfidy [scarcely paralleled in 
the most barbarous ages, and totally] unworthy the 
Head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained others [our fellow Citizens]^ taken 
Captive on the high Seas, to bear arms against their 



THE STATE HOUSE. 45 

Country, to become the executioners of their friends 
and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has [^excited domestic insurrections amongst us and 
has'] endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our 
frontiers the merciless Indian Savages, whose known 
rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of 
all ages, sexes and conditions of cxiotcnoc. 

Bg hae cxoitod troaeonablc in s urr o ctioB g ofour - fellow 
eiti zone^ with tho a llurements of forf e iture and confisc a> 
tion of our prQportj\ 

H e has waged Civil War againct humaa nature lt> 
jgelf , viol a ting its ^CMst -sacred lights of Life and Liberty 
m th o porsone of a distant people, who never offended 
him c a ptivatJ.Rg and g a rrj^iag - them into slave ry Id 
another hemisphere, o r t o incur mieorablQ de a th in the ir 
trapsportat^gn hither . Thia Piratical Warfare, the op 

probium -Qf-Lpu&d^ pnw t ^-s^ i<a fhp wnrfnrp n f fh^ n^ - fvigfjt ,!^ 

^ing cf Groftt Britain. D o tcrmlnod to koop open a Market 
^w4H^f^ Mf^r ^^onlrl be hni Tg ht nn d nol d, he h ai pr oit i 

tuted hisi Tiflgnfi^'o for ffnpproqg,-nor i ? ^ r ^ j. y J .^ gj ^]^^;^r (^ ^^ 

tempt -to pr'?^iVit -9T t<? rftRtraii a this Eygffrr M n C om. 
mgrce . Asd^hAt-this aseomblago might want no fact 
€- f dictinguicbcd -dye, ^ 4s now oxeiting these v -e^ 
People to R io o in Arme among u e , and to purchase 
-tbftt Liberty -^ whic h -h« has deprived thom-by-mttg. 

dcring -^b^^wopl^- npnn whnm hn r>hfr,i/^^r| fhorri . f}.^,q 

paying off former Crimoe oommittod a gainst the l iber 
4»efr-^-e^^ pooplo with crimes which ho urges -theai 
to commit again s t the live s of another . 

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Peti- 
tioned for Redress in the most humble terms ; Our re- 
peated Petitions have been answered only by repeated 
injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by 
every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the 
ruler of a people wh o mean -^-be ^^^^ [free people]. 
^Future ages will Goarool^^ boliovo that the hardiness of 
^enc man adventured, within the ohort oompaoo of twelve- 
.ycara only, to _build a foundation, so b? &ad-asd- 'dB^ta* 



46 



HAND BOOK OF 



gui s od ,4b-r Ty^e^mij^ -o^f^r -a P^o^ foBtcrod . -ckad fixed 4a 
priRciple s-of fir oedon i. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British 
brethren. We have warned them from time to time, of 
attempts by their Legislature to extend a [an unwar- 
rantable^ jurisdiction over thcac our State s' [ws]. 

We have reminded them of the circumstances of our 
emigration and settlement here ; no one of which e ould 
vrg.rrant so strango a. protcnglon -; that these w a ra cffc ^>we4 

■c^ \j\\Q, expense of CUT cwn Plcod &nd Treasure ur3.£ 

cictcd "by the wealth or strength -QJ* Grrcsit SritcJn ; that 
iiT^ cciistitutin"' indeed ou r pg yg^g ,^ fcrnis c^ G rovc^umGn^t 
wo had adopted one common Khig y tlicrebj^ ^^^^Bg— a- 
f'undation for perpetu a l league -sy^ amity ^4th thcW ^, 
J^ttfe -ihat-,-to -t-broir parliament J¥a« -n^ part of -«^ii^ - Const -i- 
tut! 041 ; n^r even an idea , if histor^^ ^aaay -be credited ; ' 
-firftd-we [have'] appealed to their native justice and mag- 
nanimity -as-weilr-R-s-to [and we have conjured them by] 
the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these 
usurpations which - were likely to [would inevitably'] 
interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, 
too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of con- 
sanguinity ; and when OGcaeione have l3 e^>- g'ven tb c m, 
by 4ho regular ceurso - ^ th ( ?iT l . yws, of removing frQ:i ; i 
their CcuncilG - the dioturbcre cf qiat harnaoay , thc}^ k «^^ 
by thei r free election , re oetabli eJ^e^- thetc . iii po^??;^^. 
An; ^fehk -s^e^" time , 4o€ , ^^k^^ Vi^cre permitting -fefeek- -Gii^-e^ 
A^a*^' strtite to £ c n d ovor uot only soldiers of o u r ^q^ 
mon blood, bu rt [Scotch and] foreign mercenaries to 
:nvs;dc -firftd: destroy -u^. These facte have ■ rivea thQ 4ft&t- 



stab -4« agonizk>g afFoctione ; -a^d laaaly spirit bi d s u^ 
to renounce forever these unfee ^ iag Ercthrcnw W ^-ie-aet 
- ciidoavQur to forget our forittof Iqvq f^r thsm; au d [ive] 
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which de- 
nounces our Separation, and hold them as we hold the 
rest of mankind. Enemies in War; in Peace, Friends. 

We laigbt have been a fr< i >e and great people tcgctker -; 
but a oommunioatioB. -^ graadem .' - a i id 8 f - trccdG«i ,-4t 



THE STATE HOUSE. 



47 



BQome, ie l^clow their tligiiitj". Eg it eo, einG Q t h^- ^44i- 
^ift¥c-4ti — The road to Rappincao ar.d to Glory ie e p e a 
to ua, too ; We will qIIhiIs it apart frcm them, an d 
- aGquiicsGC in tkc ncccoGity wliick dGiiQunoeG -S4*r •e^i4*ft^ 
t.cjtaratiQii. - 

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United 
States of America, in General Congress assembled, 
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the 
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, aud hy the 
authority of the good People of-t-h c Statco, rcfoct an d- 
-yc-«^^5S.«€ all rJlGglfe^- oe and s -fefef€€4f»fe— to the k - kige of 
Great Britain, smd -st^ e rg w h o ■m fe T ^^ c r oa fUr cl gi tia l ^y^ 
through ,-e^-r; ndcr thom ; We uttorlj- diss olve a .l l-g-e4444€^ 
eciincxicii i which may hsrctcfors htivc GulgcistQd l?cfe y-8^4^r 
4I S a n d tb e - ParliazaLQnt or - pooplo Qf - Grcat Britain ; a^d -r 
finally, we -de- ass e rt th -e GclcrJ.cg -fee -1^ fe^-» -a4i4 inde 
in dent - StatQg ; [these Colonies solemnly publish and 
declare^ That these United Colonies are^ and of Right 
ought to he^ Free and Independent States; that they 
are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, 
and that all political connection between them and the 
State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally 
dissolved y'"] and that as Free and Independent States, 
they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, con- 
tract Alliances, establish Commerce, and do all other 
Acts and Things which Independent States may of right 
do. And for the support of this declaration [with a firm 
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence'], we 
mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, 
and our sacred Honor." 



Adopted by Congress, July 4, 1116, 



48 



HAND EOOK OF 



PORTRAITS AND FURNITURE IN 
INDEPENDENCE HALI.. 

(east room.) 




HANCOCK'S CHAIR, AND TABLE UPON WHICH THE DECLARATION 
WAS SIGNED. 

The Presiding Officer^s Chair, once occupied by John 
Hancock as President of the Independence Congress. 

The Table on which the Declaration of Independence 
received the signatures of the members. 

Thirteen Chairs used by Members of Congress. 

The Original Chandelier used for evening sessions. 

Statue of Washington, life size, in wood, carved by Wil- 
liam Rush of Philadelphia. 

Two Sevres Vases, presented by the French Govern- 
ment to the City of Philadelphia, July 4, 1876. 



The array of portraits begins at the eastern end of 
hall, as named and numbered. 

1. John Hancock, President of Congress, 1*176. 

2. Richard Henry Lee, Mover of the Resolutions for 
Independence. 

3. Benjamin Harrison, Chairman of the Committee of 
the Whole, to consider the question of Independence. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 4b' 

4. Thomas Jefferson, Chairman of Committee of five 
to Draft the Declaration of Independence, and Chief 
Author of the Instrument. 

5. Roger Sherman, Member of the Committee to Draft, 
etc. 

6. John Adams, Member of the Committee to Draft, 
etc. 

T. Samuel Adams, The Pioneer of the Revolution. 

8. Benjamin Franklin, Member of the Committee of 
Draft, etc. 

9. John Dickinson, The Great Advocate of Constitu- 
tional Rights and Member of Congress, July, IT 76, 
from Pennsylvania. 

10. Robert Morris, The Great Financier of the Revolu- 
tion and Member of Congress, July, 1776, from 
Pennsylvania. 

11. Thomas McKean, Advocate of Independence and 
Member of Congress, July, 1776, from Delaware. 

12. Samuel Chase, Advocate of Independence and Mem- 
ber of Congress, July, 1776, from Maryland. 

13. George Wythe, Advocate of Independence and Mem- 
ber of Congress, July, 1776, from Yirginia. 

14. Joseph Hewes, Member of Congress, July ,1776, from 
North Carolina. 

15. JosiAH Bartlett, Member of Congress, July, 1776, 
from New Hampshire. 

16. Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress, 1776. 

17. Thomas Heyward, Jr.. Member of Congress, 1776, 
from South Carolina. 

18. Elbridge Gerry, Great Advocate of Independence, 
Member of Congress, 1776, from Massachusetts. 

19. Robert R. Livingston, Member of the Committee to 
Draft, &c * 

*This gentleman did not sign the Declarg,tion. 



50 HAND BOOK OF 

20. WiLLTAM Whipple, Member of Congress, 1176, from 
New Hampshire. 

21. Robert Treat Paine, Member of Congress, 1716, 
from Massachusetts. 

22. Stephen Hopkins, Member of Congress, 1776, from 
Rhode Island. 

23. William Ellery, Member of Congress, 1776, from 
Rhode Island. 

24. Samuel Huntington, Member of Congress, 1716, 
from Connecticut. 

25. William Williams, Member of Congress, 1776, 
from Connecticut. 

26. Oliver Wolcott, Member of Congress, 1776, from 
Connecticut. 

27. William Floyd, Member of Congress, 1776, from 
New York. 

28. Philip Livingston, Member of Congress, 1776, from 
New York. 

29. Francis Lewis (frame vacant). Member of Con- 
gress, 1776, from New York. 

30. Lewis Morris, Member of Congress, 1776, from 
New York. 

31. Richard Stockton, Member of Congress, -1776, from 
New Jersey. 

32. John Witherspoon, Member of Congress, 1776, from 
New Jersey. 

33 Francis Hopkins, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

New Jersey. 

34 Abraham Clark, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

New Jersey. 

35 Benjamin Rush, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Pennsylvania. 

36 James Wilson, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Pennsylvania. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 51 

37 George Ross, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Pennsylvania. 

38 George Clymer, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Pennsylvania. 

39 George Read, Member of Congress, 1776, from Del- 

aware. 

40 Thomas Stone, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Maryland. 

41 William Paca, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Maryland. 

42 Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, Member of Con- 

gress, 1776, from Maryland. 

43 Thomas Nelson, Jr., Member of Congress, 1776, 

from Virginia. 

44 Francis Lightfoot Lee (frame vacant), Member of 

Congress, 1776, from Virginia. 

45 William Hooper, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

North Carolina. 

46 Edward Rutledge, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

South Carolina. 

47 ThOxMas Lynch, Jr., Member of Congress, 1776, from 

South Carolina. 

48 Arthur Middleton, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

South Carolina. 

49 George Walton, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Georgia. 

50 Thomas Johnson, Member of Congress, 1776, from 

Mar3'land. 

51 Rev. William White, Chaplain to Congress. 

52 Matthew Thornton, of Mass., Speaker of the Pro- 

vincial Congress. 

Along the surbase of the Hall are arranged portraits 
of the Presidents of the Continental Congress, all 
painted by Peale, viz. : 



52 HAND BOOK OF 

Peyton Randolph, Henry Laurens, John Hanson, 
John Jay, Elias Boudinot, Arthur St. Clair, Thomas 
Mifflin. 
53. Frame reserved for Henry Middleton. 

58. Cyrus Griffin, one of the Presidents of Congress, 
copied from a miniature. 

60. The Commander-in-Chief. An original portrait by 
James Peale. Above the doorway. 

Also portraits of the following Commanders in the 
Army and Navy, in the order of their commission 
in the United States service. 

61-62 Genl. Artemas Ward, Genl. Philip Schuyler. 

63-64 Genl. Israel Putnam, Genl. Richard Montgomery. 

65-65J Genl. Horatio Gates, Genl. John Sullivan. 

66-67 Genl. Nathaniel Green, Genl. Wm. Alexander 
(Lord Stirling.) 

68^69 Genl. Benjamin Lincoln, Marquis de Lafayette. 

tO-Tl Baron de Kalb, Baron Steuben. 

72-73 Genl. Wm. Smallwood, Genl. L. DeBegne Por^ 

tail. 
74-75 Genl. Henry Knox, Genl. Christopher Gadsden. 
76-77 Genl. Lachlan Mcintosh, Genl. Anthony Wayne. 
78-78^ Genl. Jas. Mitchell Yarnum, Peter Muhlenberg. 
79-80 Genl. George Clinton, Genl. Joseph Reed. 
81-82 Genl. James Wilkinson, Genl. Daniel Morgan. 
83-84 Genl. Otho Holland Williams, Genl. Jos. Warren 

(Provincial.) 
85-86 Genl. Thos. Sumter (Provincial) Col. John Edgar 

Howard. 
87-88 Col. Wm. A. Washington, Col. Harry Lee. 
89-90 Comte de Rochambeau, Capt. John Paul Jones. 
91-92 Capt. Joshua Barney, Oapt. Nicholas Biddle, 



THE STATE HOUSE. 



53 



Also in the southwest corner, not numbered (beneath a 
portrait of Bishop White), Thomas Willing, Esq., 
President of the first Bank of the United States. 

George Turner, Esq., Judge of the United States Court, 
appointed by President Washington, and a member 
of the Society of Cincinnati. 




WASHINGTON'S SOFA. 



54 



HAND BOOK OF 




NATIONAL MUSEUM— WEST ROOM. 



REIvICS IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 

(WKST ROOM.) 

Equestrian Portrait of Gen'l Washington. Painted by 

Kembrandt Peale. 
Portraits of Daniel Williams ; of Captain Andrew Mc- 

Meyer, shot at battle of Germantown ; of Judge Turner, 

Statesman and Soldier of Virginia. 
Portrait of Mrs. Richard Stockton (Annie Boudinot), 



THE STATE HOUSE. 55 

wife of one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, taken 1800. 

Portrait of James Logan. 

Portrait of Gouvenenr Morris. 

Portrait of John Hamilton, also Gen. Edward Hand. 

Portrait and Autograph of James II. — ditto Charles II. 

Portrait of Benj. Chew, Chief Justice of Penna. 

Portrait of James Bowdoin, of Continental Congress, 
17U. 

Portrait of Charles II, copied from the original painted 
by Sir Peter Lely. 

Portraits of Kings and Queens, purchased in Europe hy 
Mr. Joseph Harrison, and placed in the museum by 
his widow, Mrs. Sarah Harrison. They include Wil- 
liam and Mary, Queen Anne, George I, II, III. This 
portrait of George III, was painted by Ramsey, by 
order of the King, for the purpose of sending it to the 
Colonies in America. 

Amongst the portraits may be found John Adams, 
Fisher Ames, William Allen, Pierre Adet (French 
Minister), William Bradford, Aaron Burr, M. Yon 
Berchell (Dutch Minister), Chas. Brockden Brown. 

Portraits of DeWitt Clinton ; Hernandez Cortes ; Rev. 
Ashbel Green; Gen Horatio Gates; Chevalier Gerard, 
First French Minister appointed by the French Gov- 
ernment. This portrait was painted by Charles Wilson 
Peale, the daj^ following the public reception given in 
the inclosure opposite the State House, the State 
House itself having proved inadequate to admit the 
throng that pressed to do him honor. By suggestion of 
M. Gerard himself, the State House £^ppears in the back- 
ground of the painting. 

Full length portrait of General LaFa3^ette, taken by 
Sully in 1824, when he made his second visit to the 
United States. 



56 HAND BOOK OF 

Portrait of Washington in Mosaic — " A gift to the City 
of Philadelphia, as a Souvenir of the first Centennial 
of the I ndependenc of the United States of America, 
declared in tliat City, July 4, 1T76." Presented by 
the Artist, L. A. Gallaudt,of the City of Rome, Italy. 

Bell cast at Warwick Furnace, 1157, and used in giving 
alarms at Valley Forge. 

German Record of Baptism, 1716. 

Book of Commissions, Certificates, etc. 

Brick from the House of John Printz, Governor of the 
Province of New Sweden, built in 1643. 

Lamp used during the Revolution. 

Badge of the Society of the Cincinnati. 

Silhouette of Francis Hopkinson, and Gold Anchor worn 
by him, 1790. 

Stone Cannon Ball, taken from the Chew House, German- 
town, Pa. 

Button from the Coat of George Washington, worn at 
Mount Yernon. 

Commodore Perry's Signal Book of Lake Erie. 

Bench, made from the Pew in Christ Church (Second 
and Market streets) ; the Pew that was used there by 
General Washington, Franklin, La Fayette, and 
Bishop White. 

Autograph Letter of Francis S. Key to his Mother, 
when he composed the " Star Spangled Banner," and 
an Account of the Expedition he was on, aboard the 
Ship " Minden," when he Composed the Song. 

Letters of the Signers of the Constitution of the United 
States, 1787; also Letters of Benjamin Franklin, 
1765-66 ; of John Quincy Adams, Aaron Burr, Robert 
Fulton, Napoleon Bonaparte, Baron Steuben, 1783, 
Benjamin Rush, Robert Morris, 1780; from Eger- 
mont to Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania, announ- 
cing a Change in the Government, 1761 ; Letters from 
General and Mrs. Washington, General Pulaski, Col. 
Hamilton, and others, to Clement Biddle. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 57 

Silhouette of General George and Martha Washington. 

Inkstand, used by Michael Gregg, of the Continental 

Army. 
Model of the old Ship " Constitution," made by a Marine 

of twenty years service on board of her; also a 

Leather Water Bucket used aboard of her. 
A piece of wood of the Treaty Elm Tree. 
Picture of rear of State House, taken 1800. 
Picture of State House, 1788. 
Mss., Diary of Benjamin Hawkins, Indian Agent for 

Southern Territory, 1799. 

Quit Rent, receipt of 1755, and other papers of like in- 
terest. 

Lightning Rod from the Benjamin West Mansion, built 
1765, under the direction of Benjamin Pranklin. 

Robes, Ribbons, etc., worn at many Colonial and Peace 

rejoicings. 
Piece of Plymouth Rock. 

Proclamation of Patrick Henry to the people of Vir- 
ginia, dated at Williamsburg, Yirginia, 1778. 
Bible, printed 1698. 
Letters of Admiral Sir William Penn and Charles Reed 

of London, M. P. and F. S. A. 
Pewter Plate, that belonged to James Logan. 
Picture of John Hancock's House, taken just before it 

was torn down, and framed in the wood of the house. 
Holster Pistol, worn at the battle of Saratoga. 
Pistol captured from one of officers under the British 

General Tarleton, at the battle of the Cowpens, S. C. 
Plate of John Roberts ; this plate is 150 years old. 
Yiews of " Belmont Hall," the house in which the first 

Legislature of the State of Delaware held its session, 

erected in 1790. 
Navy Memorial Pitcher. 



58 HAND BOOK OF 

Thanksgiving Proclamation 1792. 

Pistol of George Mason, used in the Kevolution, 1776. 

Fac-Simile of the Non-Importation Resolutions of the 
Merchants of Philadelphia in 1765. 

Two Dolls of Colonial Days. 

Royal Monogram, from Battlefield at Eutaw Springs, 
S. C, 1781. 

Copper Tea Kettle used by Wm. Penn during his second 
vo3'age to America, 1789. 

Marriage License of Isaac Norris and Eleanor Thomp- 
son, March 27, 1771. 

Original Letter of Benj. West, written from London, in 
which he speaks of the picture of the " Treaty Tree." 

First Prayer in Congress, in the handwriting of John 
Hancock. 

Painting of" Penn's Treaty,'' by Benjamin West, orig- 
inal picture. Purchased in Europe by Joseph Harri- 
son, Esq., and deposited in this museum by his 
widow 

Earthenware Pitcher used at the Battle of Germantown. 

Pitcher Portrait of Genl. LaFayette. 

Picture of Church at Alexandria, Ya., framed in the 
pulpit w^ood. 

Brewing Pot that belonged to Jonathan Morris. 

" Eastern Prospect " of the City of Philadelphia, in the 
Province of Pennsylvania. 

Picture of the Old Court House, built 1707 (Second 
and Market streets); taken down 1837. 

Piece of the timber of the old Frigate Philadelphia. 

Burial Place of Genl. LaFayette — oil painting by Henry. 

Miniature of Col. Laurens, one of Genl. Washington's 
aids, afterwards appointed Minister to France. 

Section of Beam from the (flag of truce) ship " Minaen," 
on board of which Francis S. Key composed the 
" Star Spangled Banner." 



THE STATE HOUSE. 50 

Ale Mug of John Paul Jones. 

Engraving of the U. S. Frigate Alliance," framed in a 
piece of wood from her. 

China Mug, in Effigy of Col. Washington after " Brad- 
dock's Defeat." 

Musket captured by John Eyre at the Battle of Ger- 
mantown ; also his table and camp stool, sword and 
epaulettes, and dagger captured from the Hessians. 

Gentlemen's Magazine, 11G5. 

Medal issued at the time of Genl. Washington's death, 
and numerous Medals of interest. Continental Money, 
&c. 

Test worn by French officer at the Battle of German- 
town. 

Yolume. Yotes of Pennsylvania General Assembly, 
1788. 

Curious token struck 1766, to commemorate the repeal 
of the Stamp Act. 

Tinder Box, used during the Revolution. 

Table of George Mason, of Ya., upon which was written 
the " Kights of Yirginia." 

Tomahawks, stone arrow heads, &c. 

Official Seal of Georgia, as an Independent State, di- 
rected by the convention that formed the Constitu- 
tion of 1777. 

Wooden Scales, made in 1750. Queen Anne Sixpence. 

Swords of Judge Turner and Gen'l Anthony Wayne. 

Sword of " William Penn," having Penn's name en^ 

graved on it. 
Spinning Wheels used previous and during the Revolu- 
tionary War. 
Insulating Stool and Air Pump, used by Benj. Franklin. 

Earliest specimens of silk, from Rhode Island. 
Pencil sketches by Benj. West. 



60 HAND BOOK OF 

Sword of Gen'l Benj. Pierce, carried in the battles of 
Germantown and Brandy wine. 

Map of Philadelphia, 1750, and others of early date. 

Medallions of Genl. Washington and Genl. La Fayette. 

Photograph copies of miniatures of Genl. and Mrs. 
Washington taken from life. 

Cast of Washington's face taken after death — impres- 
sion of his seal — fragment of his coffin — engraved 
copy of his farewell address — memorial pitcher — a 
Mezzotint by Peale, 1787 — Hair of Genl. Washington, 
cut off by his sister, Mrs. Lewis — Spectacles — Visiting 
Cards, Pocket Compass and Sofa used by Genl. 
Washington. Genl. Washington's Masonic Apron, 
and Communication to Lodge. 

Watch in " Copper Gilt," carried in the principal battles 
of the Revolution hy John Baytiste Rehmidt. Given 
to him by Gen'l Washington himself. 

Capt. John Rush's Watch and Sword, brought over by 

Capt. John Rush, of Cromwell's Army. 
Likeness of Abraham Whipple. 
Waistcoat worn at the Republican Court. 
Vase made from the Penn Treaty Tree — also a Vase 

made from the house of the Adams family, Boston. 

Original Deeds of Land, 1695 to 1774, and other early 
dates. 

Cane that belonged to Geo. Read of Delaware, signer of 
the Declaration. 

Clock Case of James Logan — Penn's Secretary, also 
Chair of Wm. Penn which seated La Fayette and 
Prince William. These articles were presented by 
James Logan to John F. Watson, author of the "An- 
nals of Philadelphia." 

Coupons of the Water Works of New York Colony, 
1774. 

Commission of Judge Turner, 1789. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 61 

Certificate of Membership of the Society of Cincinnati, 
1785. 

Coins — Colonial, Kevolutionary, etc. 

*' Columbia Magazine," 1787, Containing pictures of 
State House, 1778. 

Amongst Newspapers of early dates is the " New Eng- 
land Courant," 1723. 

Cane, which Genl. La Fayette held in his hand when his 
portrait was painted. 

Compass, made by David Rittenhouse, and used in the 
survey of the " Mason & Dixon's " line. 

Chair used by the First Continental Congress in New 
York, 1765. 

Calendar of Dr. Franklin, 1774. 

Iron " Crows-foot " from the site of the old Ford on the 
Susquehanna, opposite Sunbury, Pa. 

Miniature, Major Jackson of S. Carolina. 

Model of Independence Hall, 1776. 

Hair of John Hart, one of the signers of the Declar- 
tion. 

Sword of Lieutenant Hogue, who with his whole detach- 
ment was massacred by the Indians at Blanket Hill, 
Aug., 1756. 

Revolutionary Hats— Hessian Standard Tips. Captured 
at the battle of Trenton. 

Cannon Ball, Grape Shot, Fork and Spoon found 
amongst the fortifications of Valley Forge. 

Engraving of Centre Square, Philadelphia, now the site 

of the new Public Buildings. 
Epaulettes worn by Genl. La Fayette; Remnant of 

Epaulette left in the coffin of Baron Steuben, when 

his remains were exhumed. 
Original Deed of Land 1763, with signatures of thq 

chiefs of §ix different Indian nations. 



62 HAND BOOK OF 

Drum beaten by a boy 12 years of age, at the battle of 

Germantown. 
Engraving caricaturing Robert Morris, 1*190, when the 

seat of government was moved from New York to 

Philadelphia. 

Correct model of the Frigate Constitution, made of the 
orignal timber presented for the purpose by Com. 
Hull, to F. C. Labbe. 

Commission of William to James Harrison, as his stew- 
ard. 

Chair of" Liberty and Equality," made of all memorial 
woods of America; used to stand in the old '* Coffee 
House," Second and Market Sts. 

Charter of the City of Philadelphia, 1101 

Commission of Stephen Decatur. 

Chairs of the Colonial Justices of the Supreme Court. 

Autograph of Louis XYL, King William, and others. 

Chair used by the Chief Justice of Penna. 

Brick, from the Swedes' Church, at Tinnicum, conse- 
crated Sept. 4, 1646. 

Book, " Bacon's Abridgement," that was owned by Pey- 
ton Randolph, First President of the Continental 
Congress. 

Military Note Book, lt76. 

Cannon Ball and Shell, from Monmouth battle ground. 

Tea Box and Plate, brought from London in the 16th 
century by Captain Ellis Bennett. 

Earthen Punch-bowl, and China do., that regaled Genl. 
Washington, and many of his officers during the Rev- 
olution. 

Punch-bowl that belonged to Capt. Simmons, Comman- 
der of the Birmingham Packet. 

Book of Sermons by Dr. Bates, with Autograph of John 
Hancock, 1723. 



THE STATE HOUSE. 63 

Huguenot Bible brought to America by the family of 
Roux, who settled in Ya. 

Snuff Box made of wood from the old prison ship " Jer- 
sey." 

Boot-jack and appliances left at the residence of Jacob 
Martin at the time of the Evacuation of Philadelphia 
by the British. 

Sword captured during the Revolution from an English 
vessel by Lieutenant Castor. 

Sword of British officer taken by Benager Miles, of Ver- 
mont, at the battle of Bunker Hill. 

Sermon written by Rev. Justus Howard, lt64. 

Sketch in Oil, Rossiter's sketch of the signing of the 
Constitution ; Rossiter died before finishing it. 

Pewter Spoon used by Gov. Martin. Sword used by 

John Hancock. 
Picture of Admiral Charles Stewart, framed in wood of 

the old ship Constitution. 
Stays and Slippers of 1176. 
Infant Clothes worn by John Quincy Adams, and 

made by his mother; also, scarf worn by Mrs. J. 

Adams when she sat to Stuart for her portrait. 

Seal of Capt. William Oliver, and Gold Scales used by 
Capt. Oliver, of the Continental army. 

Sword worn by Capt. Oliver at the battles of Brandy- 
wine, Germantown,Yalley Forge, Trenton, Monmouth, 
and other points. 

Celebrated Speech of Edmund Burke on America. 

Section of " Triumphal Arch," under which Washing- 
ton passed on his way to the first Presidency. Erect- 
ed at Trenton, N. J., April 21, 178T. 

The original painting of " Penn's Treaty," by West, 
was placed in the Museum by Mrs. Harrison, it hav- 
ing been amongst her husband's purchases in Europe, 



64 



HAND BOOK OF 



Articles of the Constitution of 1787 in fac simile, with 
Corrections and Interlining by himself, also first folio 
publication of same. 

Photo-Yiew of the Grave of William Penn, at Jordans, 
England. 

Fac-Simile of the Declaration of Independence, 1776. 

Fac-Simile of " Magna Charta," with the Seals of 
King John's securities to Magna Charta, and the 
Seals and Shields of the Barons. 




WASHINGTON'S SPECTACLES. 



HAND BOOK OF GIRAKO COI.I.EGE 
BY DAVin SCAXXEROOOD. 

Illustrated, Price 25 Cents. 

Containing an account of the building of the College, des- 
cription of the building and grounds, and the auxiliary build- 
ings—The School Rooms, Machinery Rooms, Chapel, Monu- 
ment, &c. Mr. Girard's will, and Biographical Sketch of Mr. 
C.irard. 

27 ILI.USXRAXIONS, 

Sold at the gates of the College, and sent by mail by the 
publisher on receipt of price. 

Published by DAVID SCATTERGOOD, 
^i. H. Corner Sixtb and Chestnut Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA, 



HAND BOOK OF THE STATE HOUSE 

AX I»HII.ADEI.I»HIA, 

BY OAVXD SCAXXERGOOD. 

Illustrated, Price 25 Cents* 

Containing an account of the building of the State House 
— history of the Old Bell and Clock, former uses of the State 
House, events attending the signing of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence — original copy of the Declaration, with the corrections 
and alterations — Catalogue of Portraits and Relics in building, 
.Sic. 

Sold at the State House, and sent by mail on receipt of 
price. 

Published by DAVID SCATTERGOOD, 

:k. H. Corner Sixth and Cbestnut Streets, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



[Q--'^\y 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 314 839 7 




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